Talk:flower

There is another meaning: a herbaceous plant with beautiful flowers. I think that part of the translations applies only to that meaning. For instance, in German the correct translation is Blüte. 88.196.47.221 13:14, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Though vulgarly also Blume has the same meaning. 88.196.47.221 17:56, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Other version of flower

What about the other version of flower, something that flows, which is pronounced differently?-Paul

I was just wondering about this. It's a classic red herring in cryptic crosswords, where e.g. "French flower" might clue SEINE. Is it attestable in normal writing? Equinox ◑ 02:02, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

On a b.g.c. look for things like "slow flower", "rapid flower", and "noisy flower", I found only uses for the blossom sense. --EncycloPetey 14:45, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

FLower

Hi I Was WOndering What Are Flowers On Fruit Trees And Shrubs Called . Answer Back.

173.178.93.250 03:52, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

blossoms. —Stephen ^(Talk) 01:33, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

RFV 2015

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flower

Something that flows. It’s logically possible and will be easily understood when spoken. I just cannot find a usage. — TAKASUGI Shinji (talk) 10:40, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

• It is used very frequently in cryptic crosswords to mean river. SemperBlotto (talk) 10:43, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

  Thank you. If so, a note may be useful to indicate that it is primarily used in crosswords, not in texts. — TAKASUGI Shinji (talk) 10:49, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

  I'd imagine in that sense, it's a deliberate play on words and in fact uses the word flower (the thing with the petals). Renard Migrant (talk) 15:11, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

  It's a pun on that sense, but it doesn't mean petalled thing: the Thames isn't one, but could be clued as "flower". (Compare "wicked thing", an old clue for a candle, i.e. it has a wick.) Equinox ◑ 15:23, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

It's not in Century, which often has obscure senses and citations of their use. "Flower flowed" and "flower that flows" turn up only hits of floral flowers. - -sche (discuss) 05:53, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

I can't find an actual use of this sense outside of texts explaining how cryptic crosswords work. Perhaps we should move the explanation to the talk page. SemperBlotto (talk) 08:31, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

Does this Etymology merit inclusion? (IMO, No, based on my preliminary efforts.) I tried looking for usage by doing searches including '"real flower" -artificial'. Does anyone have any good ideas for how to find legitimate uses, not mentions? DCDuring TALK 14:59, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

I've tried several methods with no luck. I can't believe that anyone would use the word in written text because every reader would assume the botanical meaning. SemperBlotto (talk) 15:09, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

google books:"water is a good flower" gets not hits. It's all I can think of in terms of searching. Renard Migrant (talk) 15:12, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

It would be used in situations where gusher might be used, I suppose. DCDuring TALK 16:49, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

• Maybe we should look in corpora of spoken English—since the word is spelled the same as "flower" but pronounced differently, it seems more likely to occur in spoken rather than written English. —Mr. Granger (talk • contribs) 18:45, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

  I have found several uses of flow-er: [1], [2]. — TAKASUGI Shinji (talk) 10:27, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

  Good approach to searching for evidence. I would dispute whether the instances are uses rather than mentions. It is interesting that the underlying written literary/translated usage needs commentary. It is also true that spoken usage, though rare, does not need any explanation. DCDuring TALK 13:50, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

• I've found four quotations (with the help of a friend), all of which are translations/glosses of foreign words. I've added them to the entry. —Mr. Granger (talk • contribs) 00:42, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

  Ooh, smart idea, searching for it with speed/motion words! I just tried "rapid flower" and "slow flower" but couldn't find any more relevant hits. - -sche (discuss) 00:59, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

Thank you guys for all of your help. I have removed the RFV tag. — TAKASUGI Shinji (talk) 03:46, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

-florous suffix

-florous suffix : bearing flowers multiflorous ([Mid-18th century. < late Latin multiflorus < Latin multi- "many" + flor- "flower"])
[< Latin flor- "flower"]
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009

--Backinstadiums (talk) 12:18, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

Slang for cannabis

I see "flower" used online as a slang/euphemism for cannabis and other plants people smoke. Couldn't find a citation in my quick google books search though. Brainy J (talk) 22:55, 2 April 2023 (UTC)

same. i've seen it twice now. i will add it, but i want to make sure i'm right that it's an uncountable ("my flower") and that it is a general cover-all term and not some specific meaning. thanks, —Soap— 10:02, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

RFV discussion: June 2023–November 2024

The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for verification (permalink).

This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.

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flower

Sense 15: "Credit, recognition." The parenthetical example given for this use was "To give someone his flowers." Inner Focus (talk) 14:58, 15 June 2023 (UTC)

I wonder if this sense occurs in other phrases. I'm familiar with phrases like "give people their flowers while they're alive" (instead of only eulogizing them), which is easy to cite — google books:"flowers while they're alive" — and isn't (only) about literal flowers, but it wouldn't have occurred to me to treat that as a sense of flower rather than a metaphor or a longer figure of speech ?give someone their flowers. Occurrence in other phrases would help demonstrate this was a sense of flower by itself. - -sche (discuss) 15:25, 15 June 2023 (UTC)

This sense is also used as part of get one's flowers, for which I've added a quote. I can't find a relevant sense in the OED. If it can't be attested outside these two phrases, I would prefer creating these two entries and moving the citations there. Einstein2 (talk) 23:25, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

BTW, our only cite for the sense "vulva, labia" is from 1749 but we don't indicate the sense as obsolete like, say, "menstrual discharges". It'd be nice to either add a more recent cite, or a label. - -sche (discuss) 15:25, 15 June 2023 (UTC)

The vulva sense has been cited by Kiwima. Green's also gives two cites for uses in the plural. Einstein2 (talk) 23:28, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

RFV-resolved, I guess, although the question of whether to cover this at flower, flowers, or give someone their flowers and get one's flowers is perhaps still open. - -sche (discuss) 22:05, 22 November 2024 (UTC)